I’m always looking for ways to save money in my homeschool, and I’m also constantly in need of storage.

In this video I talk about cheap, inexpensive homeschool storage ideas- using cardboard boxes, plastic bins, and pretty much whatever you can around the house that can help you stay organized.

Although I really like our IKEA store, and office supply stores too (like Office Depot or Office Max), sometimes our budget just doesn’t quite stretch long enough to purchase what I need at the moment. So instead of waiting for months to save up for classroom furniture and supplies, I try to use what I can to create my own storage methods.

And sometimes I do really well scouting for and finding things at our local Dollar Store, or even good basement bargains at Walmart or Target when there’s a sale.

This week has been full of changes in our home school. I feel that I am finally (after months of throwing my hands up in the air) beginning to make sense of our home life and start to rebuild (after the moving). Settling in has taken time and I am so glad that I didn’t put the kids in school like I was tempted to a few months back.

Now I am really starting to catch the zeal for teaching my kids, investing in my family, and raising up Princesses for God. It is actually an exciting journey (this homeschooling one), though it is a LOT of work to plan and prepare. But the work I have put into preparation is worth every minute of the fruit I am beginning to see in my kids. SO I love my job as a homeschool teacher.

Below are cubbies I made out of 6 storage crates which I purchased from WalMart.

Those crates above were purchased at about $4/crate. I tied them together with yarn and stacked them on their sides to create a locker/cubby storage area for the girls’ school work. Here’s a YouTube video I filmed to show exactly how I did it.

I’ve also been busy creating a flannel board for what I hope will be the beginning of a new experience for my preschooler in our home – complete with “centers” and a “flannel board”. I have that all in quotes just so you know that this is not something that came natural for me in the beginning. Over the past few weeks, though, I have really been turning it up on making our school at home something my kids can be proud of. I think the flannel board will be loads of fun for my little Z. Just so you know, I am planning to print out the pieces on card stock, laminate them, and put velcro on the back for pieces. I am definitely not cutting out and creating individual pieces out of felt.

She’s working on an Evan-Moor consonant sounds folder game. These have lasted us since my oldest was four years old (about five years now).Bible Memory was loads of fun, and we got this from the Dollar Store too– so cheap and fun.

Candyland- more fun! Colors and counting.

We’ve also been doing more music together. Ny loves to practice piano and wants to get better at playing. I’m doing my best to help her until she passes Level 3 or so in the John Thompson’s. In my next post, I’ll show you a clip of Ny and I singing a song together…